


Hail Hydra

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner makes questionable decisions, Morally Ambiguous Character, Pregnancy, Protective Natasha Romanov, assume AoU went differently
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-14 04:30:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4550514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the Age of Miracles, the Soldier and the Spy fell in love. When the impossible happens, the Avengers find themselves fighting enemies and allies alike to protect their child from those who would use him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Strucker had said it was the age of miracles_ , Wanda remembered as she watched Natasha explaining the finer points of grappling as well as she could without being able to participate, _but he didn’t know just how right he was._ They all knew that this was supposed to have been impossible, that the indomitable former-assassin should never have been sidelined like this. The possibility had been taken away from her long ago. And yet, there she was, visibly pregnant. Rogers was practically floating on air, even if it seemed like he was afraid everything was going to go wrong if he looked away from Natasha for so much as five seconds. She couldn’t blame him though.   
“Maximoff, pay attention.”  
The young woman shook her head and looked up at Natasha again.  
“Sorry, yeah. Like this?”  
She grabbed the Vision and tried to do as she’d been shown.  
“Mostly, but account for the weight difference by shifting there and…there. Now try.”  
This time, Wanda succeeded in throwing her partner and would have slammed him into the mats if he hadn’t phased through the floor. She laughed and stood there with her hands on her hips.  
“Cheater! Get back up here!”

* * *

The only sound on the other side of the gym was the sound of his fists slamming into the punching bag over and over again while Barton watched. Hawkeye was only visiting, bringing his kids to spend some time with Auntie Nat and the rest of the Avengers. It just so happened that meant he was also there to provide some well needed advice.  
“What if I do something wrong? What if I’m not a good enough father.”  
“Back the truck up, Steve. Did you seriously just imply that _you_ , Mr Perfect yourself, could possibly not be a good father?”  
“I don’t exactly have all that much experience with kids, unless you count Bucky.”  
Clint laughed and reached out to put a hand on Steve’s shoulder.  
“The fact that you’re asking means you’re gonna do fine.” Then he paused, realization on his face. “That’s not really what you’re worried about, is it?”  
When Steve turned to look at Clint, there was pain in his eyes.  
“What if… You’ve read my file, right? I mean, who hasn’t? Do you know what it was like growing up that sick? What if… what if he does? What if the serum only fixed it for me?”


	2. Chapter 2

“Steve?”  
Natasha tried to shake him awake and he just snuggled closer making murmuring noises in his sleep.  
“Seriously, Steve. Wake up.”  
He made a series of noncommittal noises and pulled the blankets up around him more. With a grunt of effort, Natasha sat up and pulled the blankets off of him.  
“Steven Grant Rogers, you wake the fuck up right now or I swear I will drive _myself_ to the hospital and leave you here.”  
That got him up faster than he’d ever woken up before. He grabbed the already packed bag from beside the door and ran for her car keys. A few minutes later found them racing down the street while Steve frantically called Dr Cho.

 

* * *

Natasha was exhausted physically and mentally. Nothing in her life leading up to this had been anything compared to childbirth, up to and including anything the Red Room had done or made her do. But as she looked down at the sleeping newborn in her arms, it was all worth it. The only thing better was seeing the pure elation on Steve’s face. The rest of the team showed up over the course of the day, some like Tony with presents in tow. Notable in his absence, Steve reflected that this probably hurt Bruce. After all, hadn’t he and Natasha once talked about the fact that neither could have children and here she was with her newborn son. Yeah, Steve couldn’t blame the guy for not showing.  
“So, Red,” started Tony, leaning against the wall. “Anyone tested to see if that little guy’s got super soldier serum…I don’t know, as part of his DNA or something?”  
Natasha pulled her son closer to her and raised an eyebrow at Tony.  
“No one is doing any testing on James. We’re just going to see when he’s older.”  
Steve nodded, agreeing with Natasha.  
“Helen said there’s no signs of a heart defect, so there’s probably some. We won’t know if it’s her’s or mine or both until he gets older. Probably puberty.”  
That was enough for the team, it seemed. 

 

* * *

They moved back into the Avengers compound not too long after Natasha got let out of the hospital. The plan was to keep the baby’s existence a secret for as long as they could manage, at least until Natasha was back into fighting fit and they would be ready to keep him safe if anyone showed up looking for either of them. The plan worked well enough for a year, with Natasha spending her time exercising and caring for James and Steve splitting his time between helping her with the baby and going out on missions.   
One quiet summer night found the small family playing with blocks on the floor of their room. Natasha lay on her side with James leaning against her while he tried to stack his blocks. His head was covered in messy red hair and his bright blue eyes were focused on his toys. Steve sat opposite them both and was showing James the letters on the sides of the blocks. The quiet jazz that played in the background was suddenly interrupted by an alarm going off somewhere in the building. Steve stood up quickly, grabbing his shield from where it sat by the door.  
“I’ll be right back.”  
Natasha had scooped James up in her arms and was moving to put him into his crib.  
“I’m coming with you.”  
“Someone has to stay with James.”  
For just a moment, it looked like Natasha was going to argue. Then she stuck her head out into the hallway and grabbed one of the junior agents.  
“What’s going on?”  
“Hydra.”  
Natasha shot Steve a glare and then shoved the agent into the room.  
“Welcome to babysitting detail, agent. Anything happens to him and I will enjoy killing you.” She already had a pistol in her hand as she moved towards the door again. “Come on, Steve.”

 

* * *

The fight was brutal, leaving several people injured and dozens of Hydra agents captured. But there were more who had escaped. Steve made it back to their rooms first, Natasha having gone to help Wanda to the medic. It wasn’t a major injury, but enough that they needed someone with the girl that she trusted. He was ready to drop his shield by the door as he walked in until he found evidence of a fight in the hallway just outside their room. He burst in the open door and found himself looking at a shaking agent sitting on the floor holding up a gun. Seeing that it was Captain America in the doorway, the young man dropped his gun from his shaking hands.  
“Captain, they know. They saw him. He’s…he’s fine. But…they saw and they left.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first few chapters are going to be a little slow. Sorry about that. I'm working on setting up background so I can really get into the meat of the story.


	3. Chapter 3

James was asleep in the corner, laying in the portable playpen they’d gotten for him. It was only the presence of the baby that kept the voices in the briefing room as low as they were.   
“I hate to be the one to bring this up…” started Tony, a frown on his face. “But I figure I should mention we’re dealing with more than just the possibility they decide kidnapping is good for a cheap thrill. If they realized that James here is the product of Little Red and the Capsicle, we’re dealing with a chance they’re going to try to weaponize him. Or, I don’t know, milk him for super soldier serum.”  
Steve’s blood ran cold and he looked over at Natasha. The look in her eyes was pure murder. Before she could say something, he stepped in.  
“We were planning on neutralizing Hydra. This just accelerates the plan a little. Nothing more, nothing less. And we increase security around here starting today.”  
Bruce glanced over at the playpen.   
“We should run some tests on him…Just in case. I mean, if there’s a chance he’s carrying the serum, we really should know…”  
There was something in Banner’s voice, something almost like a guilty hope. Natasha’s voice was quiet but cold when she spoke.  
“We said it before and we’ll say it again. No one runs tests on James until he’s older. He’s a baby, not a guinea pig.”

* * *

 

Natasha sat in bed with James curled up in her arms. He was a giggling happily as she read to him. He wasn’t quite to talking yet, but he loved spending hours with his parents reading to him. Especially when it was Natasha since she did voices for all the characters.   
“And then they lived happily ever after. And now it’s time for someone to go to bed. Who do you think that is? Is it…James?”  
He giggled even more, babbling away happily in his little baby language as she scooped him up to carry him off to get ready for bed.  
“What do you think? Do you want the spangly feet-ins like your Daddy or do you want the Iron Man ones tonight?”  
She held both sets of pajamas over him.  
“Daddy or Uncle Tony?”  
When the little boy grabbed for the Iron Man ones, Natasha couldn’t stop laughing. All she could picture was the look both men would have if she told them this little story. Once he was in a clean diaper and dressed for bed, she kissed his forehead gently and put him into his crib.   
“Sleep well, James.”

* * *

 

Steve woke up to the sound of James crying on the baby monitor and sighed, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes. Their son had been doing so well lately, sleeping through the night. Hopefully, this was just a hiccup in their new routine and not a new trend. He and Natasha had both come to very much enjoy their newfound rest and were loathe to give it up. He climbed out of bed, stretching while he waited a few minutes to see if James would go back to sleep. When the crying only got louder, he started to walk into the little nursery.   
“I’m coming, James, I’m coming. It’s okay. Daddy's here.”  
That was when he processed that something was blocking out the light from the nightlight. At first he thought that maybe James had thrown something. Then the shadow moved. There was a crashing sound and Steve dove for the crib. Then everything went black.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Steve came to slowly, swimming up out of the blackness into the light. For a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was. He could hear voices that sounded vaguely familiar and terror gripped him. How long had he been out?  
“Dammit, Stark, we can’t tell him yet.”  
“Yeah? And how do you think that’s gonna go?”  
“Quiet, I think he’s waking up. Steve?”  
He sat up slowly, still disoriented.  
“Peg?”  
Sharon Carter chuckled.  
“I’ll be nice and I won’t tell Nat you called me that. How you feeling, Rogers?”  
He winced a little, brain finally getting into gear.  
“Like I got hit by a truck. Where’s James?”  
Sharon glared at Tony, but he spoke.  
“Gone. Natasha and Clint are trailing whoever took him.”  
He pulled himself out of the bed and started down the hall.  
“Where are you going?”  
“To find my son.” 

* * *

 

The Red Skull smiled slowly as his scout finished reporting.  
“So, the child is no longer under the protection of his parents? Find him. Bring him to me. Hail Hydra!”  
“Hail Hydra!”  
The soldiers saluted and he turned, striding out to prepare. He already had a plan, and it would make what the Red Room had done with the Winter Soldier look like child’s play. A slow smile crossed his face as he walked into the scientific laboratories that served Hydra.  
“We will be having a very young guest joining us shortly. I want you to ensure that we have everything we will need to house a toddler and to do tests on his blood.”  
“Right away, Sir.” 

* * *

 

Clint watched Natasha carefully, taking in everything as she walked another circle around the small room. Something in him was reminded of when they first met, when she was still an assassin and he had been hunting her. She moved like a predator, and she was cold. The only emotion in her eyes was silent rage. He couldn’t blame her though. Hadn’t he moved his own family to a farm in the country to keep them safe? He knew perfectly well how she must be feeling now. Finally, she looked up at him.  
“What do we know that could have gotten close enough to the wall without setting off the security systems, could destroy it like this and wouldn’t look suspicious to the patrols?”  
He frowned.  
“A SHIELD agent… Someone using Pym particles… um…”  
He paused for breath and she finished.  
“Or an Avenger.” 

* * *

 

The baby was crying again. It was starting to grate on his already taut nerves and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it. A few deep breaths and Bruce Banner set about trying to find a way to get James to shut up. He couldn’t remember if anyone had said if the baby was eating solid food or still on a bottle. Did he even use a bottle? Well, it wasn’t like he would need James for all that long. Just a few tests and hopefully Bruce would have his answers. And maybe a solution to his problems. Finally, he pulled out a pacifier from the diaper bag he’d grabbed along with James and jammed it into the baby’s mouth. That seemed to work. Now, he could focus on planning his tests.

 


End file.
